Failure to plan and execute integration properly can undo months or even years of hard work. More than 30% of companies fail to achieve their revenue goals after a deal closes. This is unfortunate, but also not too surprising. For some reason, perhaps because it comes at the end of the M&A process, leaders tend […]

We generally recommend taking between 30 and 60 days to complete due diligence. We find this is enough time to complete a thorough evaluation of the business without letting the process drag on. Due diligence will include onsite visits with your internal team and your external team of lawyers, accountants, and your third party M&A […]

Yahoo says the private information of at least 500 million has been compromised due to a cyber-attack in 2014. In the biggest security breach to date, hackers gained access to sensitive information including names, emails addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, passwords, and security questions. The security breach has ramifications not just for Yahoo and its […]

Culture is an important part of an organization, but it can be difficult to define. Unlike other areas, such as finance and operations, which have concrete metrics like revenue, EBITDA, and number of employees, quantitatively measuring culture can be challenging. Leaders often rely on their “gut” to understand another company’s culture, but this leaves an […]

Due diligence is an important step in the acquisition process that comes prior to closing a deal. Most people think about due diligence from a risk assessment standpoint or as a checklist of items that must be completed in order to move the deal forward. Traditional reasons for undertaking due diligence include evaluating strengths and […]

Q: How often are you able to bring together both buyer and seller functional personnel during due diligence? Some sellers might be sensitive to confidentiality and not open to bringing their personnel into the fold. A: When conducting due diligence, we advocate a functional approach, where leaders from the buyer’s organization meet with the seller’s. There […]

Q: “What if the buyer and seller functional leaders do not match? How do you coordinate the two sides?” We take a functional approach to due diligence where we encourage your leaders from sales, marketing, finance, operations and other functional areas to meet with their respective leaders on the seller’s side. A functional approach ensures […]

People are critical to the success of your company, and it’s no different in the business you are acquiring. But how can you go beyond the surface and find out what employees really think? It is doubtful employees will be completely open and honest when asked point blank, “Do you like your job?” One of […]

I’m often asked for a due diligence checklist by clients or acquirers who are anxious to make sure they’ve covered all their bases. While there are plenty of due diligence checklists, I caution against using a list developed by someone else because it may not cover aspects that are important to your organization. Your questions […]

You can increase your chances for successful acquisition by using functional due diligence to evaluate a prospect. This means actively involving leaders of the key functions of your organization: functional leaders from sales and marketing, finance, operations, IT, etc. There are several benefits to involving functional leaders in the due diligence process. Each leader has […]